Melissa Bradshaw

BBC Radio 3 turn the spotlight on female composers for International Women’s Day

11:19, 8th March 2019

BBC Radio 3 presenters are today (8 March) joined by eight female conductors in a celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day.

For a fifth consecutive year, the music and culture station dedicates its International Women’s Day schedule exclusively to music by women composers, showcasing a variety of musical talent from Debbie Wiseman to Anoushka Shankar.

Edwina Wolstencroft, editor at BBC Radio 3 commented: ‘Since BBC Radio 3’s first International Women’s Day in 2015 when we first played music entirely by female composers all day, we’ve continued to play music composed by women every single day on the station. International Women’s Day continues to be an important moment in the yearly calendar to celebrate how far gender equality in music has come, and to look at how we can continue to work together to move forward in this area.’

Giving their perspective on the music industry and an insight into their own experiences, the eight conductors below will throughout the day share with us their hopes for encouraging more women into the profession.

Rebecca Miller: US-born conductor taking on the role of chief conductor of the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra in Autumn 2019 (Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Marin Alsop: Music director of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor designate of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Photo credit: Robert Shiret)

Karin Hendrickson: Assistant conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, music director of the Young Sinfonia and associate artist at Sage Gateshead (Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Valentina Peleggi: Guest music director at the Teatro São Pedro in São Paulo and the Mackerras Fellow at ENO (Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Yshani Perinpanayagam: Pianist and music director working in theatre and contemporary dance, currently MD for the West End transfer of Emilia, an all-women show based on the life of Emilia Bassano (Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Alice Farnham: UK-based conductor with an international reputation for her work in opera, ballet and orchestral music (Photo credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Lina Gonzalez-Granados: Founder and artistic director of Unitas Ensemble, a Boston-Based orchestra specialising in Latin-American music (Photo credit: Robert Shiret)